Scientists listen to the ocean to understand how marine organisms live

The hydrophone that records the sounds of the ocean for 24 hours is surrounded by an abundant school of Scorpis chilensis, a species endemic to the Juan Fernández Archipelago. Image: Iván Hinojosa

By Paula Díaz Levi 

When Ivan Hinojosa was working on his doctorate in Australia, he studied how the reef’s sound oriented lobster larvae, which swam several kilometers from the open ocean to the coastal waters to find a place to settle. These sounds are generated by the interactions of different species, just as happens on land, and constitute guiding signals for these little organisms.

That research about the Australian lobster demonstrated the essential role of underwater sound and inspired an innovative project, this time in the Pacific Ocean along the Chilean coast at the Juan Fernández Archipelago, Easter Island and Quiriquina Island.

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Contaminated fish threaten human health in U.S., Chile

An angler at the Flint River. Image: Rocío Cano Muñoz

By Rocío Cano Muñoz

Next to the Flint River in Flint, Michigan, is a park full of trees with a plaque that commemorates the 25th anniversary of Earth Day.

The sound of the water flowing through that river and the nature around it, helps explain why that plaque is there. Near a red bridge, people photograph the landscape.  Nearby, men fish while, standing and looking at the water cascade or they sit and wait for a bite.

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Editing a scholarly book: Suggestions from Knight Center director

Eric Freedman at al-Farabi Kazakh National University

Getting published is an important marker of academic success for many researchers, and is often essential for promotion and tenure, whether in the United States or elsewhere. An article by Knight Center director Eric Freedman is intended to help researchers successfully deal with the processes of proposing and editing multi-authored scholarly books and dealing with academic and university publishers.

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